


A second chance with Rose Tyler

by silversurfer60



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2018-04-05 04:46:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4166418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silversurfer60/pseuds/silversurfer60
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The 10th Doctor arrives in 1851 London and hears the impossible – a 19th century version of Rose Tyler was shouting for him!  They soon fall in love as he takes her on adventures she has never dreamt of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The 10th Doctor arrives in 1851 London to find he's landed at Christmastime with real snow. Then he hears the impossible – Rose Tyler was shouting for him! He discovers a 19th century version of his lost love and she talks her way into going with him and this time, there's no holding back of his emotions. They soon fall in love as he takes her on adventures she has never dreamt of.
> 
> This Rose Tyler behaves exactly the same as the other one only neither of them hold back their feeling for one another. Things then become awkward when they bump into friends that know the original Rose has gone to another universe. Will she suss that she is just a replacement for the woman he has lost? These adventures are based on the 2008/2009/2010 specials although a lot of the scenes will be left out and only involve his interactions with Rose and relevant characters. May not be word for word as the original stories but there again!
> 
> Please excuse any spelling or grammatical mistakes, I am in the process of editing all the stories and it may take some time!

The Doctor had landed somewhere and was eager to discover where as he was facing a brick wall in some sort of alleyway according to the monitor. It looked like it was snowing but in his experience, white bits floating around didn't constitute the actual stuff, it could mean fallout from yet another alien spacecraft for all he knew.  He grabbed his coat from the strut by the door, he had a coat rack but it was more fun to aim it at the strut and watch it slide down and almost touch the floor, it used to drive Rose nuts so he had done it even more and since her departure yet again, it still reminded him of her.

It wasn't that long since the Tardis had been full, successfully dragging the earth back into its proper orbit and them all celebrating.  He suspected now Rose had gone off with his twin they would finally have their happy ever after and even Mickey would settle down, maybe even with Martha.  He regretted having to wipe poor Donna's memory but it was the only way to save her mind from burning and he had made a new friend in Donna's grandfather, Wilfred and knew he could rely on him to keep Donna from remembering and he was someone he could turn to if he ever needed anyone, not that he ever did or that he would admit.

So he stepped out of the Tardis doors and discovered a Victorian style market place, complete with a tree, a choir and roasted chestnuts, tempted to obtain some.  He spied a young boy and asked him what year it was.

"You thick or something?" the boy cheekily replied.

"Oi! Just answer the question," the Doctor replied.

He discovered it was Christmas Eve 1851, not a bad year as years went and not far from when he and Rose had been in Scotland with Queen Victoria and had met Charles Dickens in Cardiff.

He looked around the market place, saw a policeman and was just about to walk off when he heard someone call his name.

"DOCTOR!"

He smiled. "What? Me?"  A big grin appeared across his face.  "That's more like it."

He turned in the direction of the shouting then stopped just through an alleyway, a different one to where the Tardis had landed and there in front of him was a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair and a very familiar voice.

She shouted again.  "DOCTOR!"

He found his voice.  "It's ok, I'm here, hello."  He waved his hand.

The woman looked at him.  "Who are you?"

"It's me, The Doctor."

"Doctor who?  Don't be stupid, there can't be two of ya."

Just then, another man appeared, a well dressed man.  "Stand back, this is a job for a Timelord."

The Doctor stepped back. "A job for a what lord?"

A nearby door rattled as both men asked "What have we here then?"

The door burst open and some sort of beast with a metallic mask appeared.  Both men reached in their inside jacket pockets, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, the other man a proper screwdriver and they both pointed them at the beast.

"Oh, that's new," they both said, waving the objects around.  "Allons-y!"

After chasing the beast, well it pulling them up after the other man put a rope around it and it dragged them both up the side of a wall, through an open window, then dragged them across a floor and was about to jump, plunging them several storeys to the ground and sustaining severe injuries if not actually killing them or in the Doctor's case, making him regenerate if not for the fact the young woman had seen what was happening, grabbed an axe, climbed some stairs and cut the rope as the beast was about to jump and then stood over the two men who were in fits of laughter.

"Men!" she exclaimed as they congratulated each other on their survival.

The Doctor regained his composure.  He stared at the woman, the so familiar yet impossibly there woman.  Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

They walked down the street after the other man introduced himself as The Doctor.  Not wanting to give the game away, the true Doctor claimed he was called John Smith.

"Allow me to introduce my faithful companion, Rose Tyler."

Rose stared at the new arrival, thinking this John Smith was as big an idiot as the Doctor was but he was more handsome and way out of her league, she was just a serving girl, well not any longer since she had been saved by the Doctor and was now just tagging along and helping him.

The real Doctor held his hand out.  "Rose, good name for a companion."

The woman huffed and folded her arms then reminded the other man he had a funeral to go to, not his own, the man added.  He then told her to go back to the Tardis and the real Doctor panicked.  Was this really a future version of himself?  If it was, the other Doctor had no recollection of his past self and this was going to be very awkward.  Even more awkward was the fact Rose Tyler was staring at him and didn't know who he was either but she was here, standing in front of him and it was impossible unless she had somehow gone back in time after one of their many adventures and also lost her memory of him.

Several hours later, they were in a stable, the temporary base of the future Doctor and the real one was going through some luggage that had belonged to a man that had gone missing, presumed dead.  Rose walked over to him.  His mind was in turmoil, many things had happened that day, the discovery that Cybermen had fallen through the void and were probably plotting to convert the entire population into them, again but the biggest mysteries were right here with him, another Doctor, Rose Tyler and a balloon, named the Tardis.

Rose chastised him for opening the luggage, typical.

"That's another man's property," she stated, watching him.  "Why do you keep staring at me?  Do I have two heads or something?"

The Doctor swallowed.  "Sorry.  How did you two meet?"

Rose told him how he had rescued her from the metal monsters and stayed with him, saying he woke at night with terrible nightmares.

He finally worked things out, revealing to the other man who he actually was, the missing man, Jackson Lake.  Rose put her hand on his shoulder.  The now only Doctor left around here smiled, it was so Rose, feeling sorry for everyone, that was what he had loved so much about her.

After discovering that children were being rounded up and taken as a workforce, the Doctor and Rose left Jackson and went after them and he so wanted to tell her who he thought she was but it was becoming more and more apparent she was not his Rose but the way she acted, the way she cared made his hearts beat increase.

They freed the children as the inside of the cyber factory began to explode and a giant mechanical monster was rising up out of the river, the Doctor headed back toward the balloon with a dimension vault almost ready to send the Cybermen back into the void where they had come from.

Jackson Lake had discovered his young son had been taken and the Doctor had braved the crumbling building to go rescue him and Rose was making sure all the children got to safety.  She caught up with Jackson, who told her the boy he was holding was his son, Frederick and they both saw the Tardis floating up towards the giant robot, the cyber factory.

After dispatching the factory back into the void, the Doctor descended and found his way back to Jackson and Rose.  Jackson was trying to persuade Rose to stay on as his son's nursemaid after he discovered he was in London to take up a teaching post at the university and had a home ready to move into, which was how they had got into the insides of the cyber factory.

The Doctor joined them as Rose was making up her mind.  He had lost his Rose, the first time he'd not been able to ensure her happiness but the second time, she had been holding his twin's hand after kissing him and he knew they would work it out but his hopes of his own ever after were now dashed.  He had been so hopeful when the walls of the universe had broken down and Rose was standing at the other end of that deserted street, scattered with abandoned cars and they had run towards each other, only for him to be shot by a Dalek and having to heal himself, eventually creating his clone.

Now there were no more second chances to get her back, even if he could get back to the other universe and find her, she was with the other him now, who was completely him in every other way except the other him only had one heart and one life but could give Rose the forever she had always wanted and it should make him happy, knowing they were together but he wasn't happy because she was gone forever now.

Both Jackson Lake and Rose were looking at him, Jackson had invited him to a Christmas celebration and wanted to see his Tardis and so did Rose.  Rose was holding the young boy as Jackson staggered out of what Rose thought was just a blue box, claiming it gave him a headache.  Then the Doctor asked Rose if she wanted to look inside.

Expecting to just stand inside a box, Rose went in and almost stumbled back out, grabbing the rail to steady herself.

"It's much bigger on the inside, how does it do that?"

Just like Rose, always asking questions.  "Well, the inside is in another place, when you step through the door, you cross into another dimension."

"Oh, like you sent that metal robot into another dimension when it just disappeared?"

He thought she was very intelligent for a servant girl and would be wasted becoming a nursery maid.  He saw his chance.

"Oh Rose, I missed you so much," he thought to himself.  How could he persuade her to come with him?

A knock came on the door.  It was Jackson.  "Doctor, Rose, our feast awaits, will you join us?  Rose, I was waiting for your answer.  Will you come and work for me as Frederick's nursemaid?"

Rose looked at Jackson, then at the Doctor.  She had never seen anything like this in her entire 22 years.  She had been a serving girl since her mother sold her to a family when she was thirteen, her father had died when she was a baby and her mother struggled to bring her up, often going without food and clothing so she wouldn't starve or be cold.  Dressed only in clothes she had found, which didn't offer much protection from the elements, she was now wondering if she had to still settle for the life of a maid or nursery assistant.

She turned to the Doctor.  "So, what does this thing do then?  Does it float in the air like that balloon?"

The Doctor smiled, she was so much like the other Rose, it was uncanny.

"Well, sort of, it disappears from one place and reappears in another and not just another place, it can be another time, in the past or in the future, even another planet.  See the stars up there?"

She couldn't, considering they were in an alleyway, inside a bigger on the inside box that shouldn't even exist.

"Well yeah, of course I've seen the stars, I used to make wishes on them when I was a kid."

"Of course you did," the Doctor mused to himself, that was what the other Rose had done.  "Well imagine Rose, imaging floating amongst them, walking on new planets, seeing different people and different horizons, different sunsets.  Would you like that?"

He could see she was already tempted as she looked around the console room.

"Does this box, I mean Tardis, does it have more than one room, do you live here?"

"Yes Rose, I live here and sometimes, I take people with me, to share things with.  Just recently I must have had oh, six or seven people in here and before that, I had Donna, she was travelling with me for a while but everyone went back home."

"Why did they leave Doctor?"

"Because they needed to or they had someone to go home to."

"Then aren't you lonely now, with everyone gone?"

"Yes, I get lonely but it's best I stay on my own, because when they leave they break my heart."  He couldn't spring it on her he was an alien from another planet, with two hearts and the capacity to regenerate if need be.

Rose turned around to where Jackson was talking to his son, who was by now more than a little sleepy since they were in the early hours of Christmas morning.  She looked back at the Doctor and the Tardis console with its shining light.  She was so tempted, what things she could see and places she could go, where no-one else had gone.  She moved close to him and put her arm in his.

"Why be on your own?  Surely it's better with someone to share everything with?  You need someone to talk to, while you're moving from one place to another.  I've got no-one Doctor, I'm free now, the family I worked for probably think I got killed tonight, they won't be looking for me and I've been gone for ages anyway, even if they think I ran away.  Please Doctor, can I come with you?"

He looked at her, then at Jackson, who was now cradling his son who had fallen asleep in his arms.  He had heard Rose and the Doctor talking and knew it wasn't fair to keep her here, asking her to be his son's nursemaid.

"Rose, I may not have turned out to be the Doctor after all but I learned one thing, he needs someone with him.  Look after her Doctor and don't worry Rose, I'll make sure no-one comes looking for you, I can easily get another nurse for Frederick."

The Doctor looked at Rose.  "It can get dangerous sometimes."

"I don't care, it sounds like fun."

"I have rules."

"Such as?"

"Rule number one, never wander off on your own."

Rose smiled.  "I'm rubbish at rules."

The Doctor regarded her. She was still Rose Tyler, the woman he had never admitted had got to him and had fallen in love with her and now he had another chance, to put things right and show her how he felt, well if she wanted and this time there were no unseen boundaries that shouldn't be crossed, no Jackie Tyler to put the mockers on it and no Mickey Smith to be jealous.

Yes, things could get awkward if they came across anyone who knew the other Rose but he could get round that but he could never ever tell this Rose that she had a double in another universe that he had loved and let go.  He could never tell this one she was his second chance of being with her and she was only a replacement because he knew she would become much more than that.  He could actually fall in love with this Rose without all the guilt keeping him away.

He smiled back at her.  "Just as I thought then, I'm going to have trouble with you aren't I?"

Rose giggled.  "Then I can go with you?"

The Doctor turned to Jackson. "Bye Jackson, good luck, I'll take care of her, or rather she'll take care of me."

Rose said goodbye to Jackson and the Doctor closed the Tardis doors.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The Tardis disappeared from the alleyway and Rose was looking around the console room. The Doctor was making his way around the various switches and buttons, putting the ship into an orbit just outside the earth's atmosphere, carefully watching his new companion. Well maybe not so new as new, new but a new version of Rose Tyler.

"So what do you want to know first? You must have a lot of questions, how it all works and about all that different dimensions stuff?"

Rose looked at him. "Aw, I thought maybe you could just show me around first and can I get some more clothes? Is there a wardrobe or something?"

He smiled at her. He had expected loads of questions but a first glance inside the ship usually was greeted by a look of awe on the people who entered it. He could hear the Tardis humming her approval at Rose's arrival, even if she was a different version of her. His ship had loved Rose as much as he had and he knew the Tardis had been sad when she was lost.

"Come on then, I'll show you to a room then where you can get some clothes."

He just hoped that the ship wouldn't show her to the other Rose Tyler's old room. He cringed when the ship decided to put what he knew was indeed the other Rose's room just opposite his, was she trying to tell him something? Rose opened the door.

It was tidier than he remembered it, it had been cleared of everything personal but still a pink theme to it. This Rose seemed to like it as she threw herself on the bed, complete with pink duvet cover and pink sheets.

"Oh I love it, can this be my room?" She crossed over to a fitted wardrobe and the Tardis had decided to place a selection of suitable clothing in her size, from dresses to tops, skirts and jeans.

This Rose gaped at the clothing, never seeing anything like it as she held up the jeans and then looked at the short skirts, some denim.

"Oh, I've never seen anything like this before, I mean men's trousers, do women where you come from even wear things like this?" She picked up a short skirt, one he swore the other Rose had worn, the one he had fantasised about her bending over in.

"Well women from the time I come from do wear things like this but we can find you something else if you want?"

"No, I'll find something here, is this my bathroom, my own bathroom?" She opened the en-suite door and saw the tub and the shower. "What do you do with this?" she asked, putting her head under the shower before he could stop it as water began to pour out.

He had forgotten he had the ship install a motion activated shower for Rose, it had got her the first time as well. It came in useful when running from monsters when you got yourself covered in mud and dirt. Rose pulled herself away rather quickly, looking at her soaked dress and feeling her damp hair. He thought she was going to be annoyed and demand he took her back where she came from but instead, she burst out laughing.

The Doctor looked at her. How was his even possible? He had not had time to even think about it with all the things going on and getting rid of the Cybermen again. All he had thought about was finding a way to ask her to come with him and she hadn't taken much talking into. If his clone had the Rose he had wanted and failed to tell her, then this was compensation, compensation he was going to grab with both hands because this time, he wasn't going to make the same mistakes. The universe had thrown this Rose at his feet.

He burst out laughing as well as she reached for a towel to dry her hair then decided to throw the towel at him for laughing at her. He threw it back and Rose went to get another one and chased him out of the bathroom. "I'm going to get in there properly so you just disappear while I do. Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving."

"I'll have you know I have a full kitchen and I'll go prepare you something while you shower. When you're finished, turn right, round the corner and it's the second door on the right. If you get lost, just shout."

Rose just smiled at him, the strap on her other shoulder now also down and the white cotton blouse underneath wet. "I'm sure I'll manage Doctor. Can I ask you something? Your ship, is it sort of alive?"

"Well yes, if you can hear a humming sound, it's her. She seems to like you. She'll translate any foreign languages you might hear and if you want anything, just ask her."

"Can the ship read my mind?"

"No, not unless you want her to. Now get your shower and get changed while I make us something to eat and then I'll take you somewhere or are you tired?"

"I'm a bit tired, maybe we can go somewhere when I've had some sleep."

The Doctor went off to make some banana pancakes and some hot chocolate, the other Rose's favourite and waited for her to show. When she did, he was stunned as she entered the kitchen in pink fluffy slippers and pink pyjamas. She quickly finished off the pancakes and the hot chocolate and yawned.

"Guess I'm more tired than I thought. Can you show me back to my room?"

"Yeah but I want to show you something first, before I land us somewhere. Come with me."

He led her back to the console room and walked down the ramp, opening the doors after making sure the ship was protecting them. They were above the earth and looking down, Rose covered her mouth with both her hands.

"Is this for real? We're actually looking at the earth? This is amazing!"

The Doctor took her hand and pulled her down and they sat on the ramp, feet hanging over the edge of the doors. He took his jacket off and put it around her shoulders.

"Not bad is it?"

Rose put her arm in his and squeezed it. Turning to him, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, this is going to be great!"

After pulling her up and getting his jacket back, he closed the doors and led her back to her new room.

"I'll be right in the console room if you need me, get some sleep."

Rose opened the door and then turned around, putting her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek again. "Tell me if I'm being too forward Doctor, it's just all this new-found freedom is a bit much, I don't really know how I'm expected to behave. I've only worked for one family since I was thirteen and I've never really been alone with a man. I only got half a day a week off, my mother used to send me to Sunday school every week where I learned to read and write but when I turned sixteen, the family used to have visitors and my mistress used to keep me in the basement kitchen while they were there. I think she was trying to protect me."

It sounded about right for the time period, Victorians were very stuffy. "No Rose, it's fine, really. The kind of adventures I go on, sometimes it's nice to have a hand to hold. Feel free, to hold my hand if you want, you'll need it, I tend to run fast!"

"Run from what exactly?"

The Doctor laughed, that look in his eyes. "From trouble, what else!"

Rose yawned and took her arms away and turned to go into her room. "Goodnight Doctor, thanks again."

He left Rose to get some sleep and planned his first trip, somewhere he had never taken the first Rose – Barcelona. He let her sleep, thinking back how he used to time the other Rose and knew exactly how long she stayed in bed after a short time aboard. He wondered if this one was going to be the same. He had thought about the possibility of her existence, well if his clone could be happy, why couldn't he? He'd had a rough time since she had been gone, getting almost tangled with Martha had scared him because he couldn't be that way with Rose and it wouldn't have been fair to Martha to pretend she had taken her place. He had warned her but she seemed to have chosen to ignore it and try her luck.

What was the next morning to Rose, she woke and smelt something tempting coming through the gap in her bedroom door. She chose a pair of jeans, liking the feel of them and a blue t-shirt and followed the smell. The Doctor had bacon sandwiches and tea waiting for her. After they ate, he led her out onto a grassed area and told her where she was, warning her not to laugh at the dogs with no noses, which got a smile out of her.

After walking around, he took her back to the Tardis and asked if she wanted to go visit the beach and she went to get changed. Not sure about the choice of bathing costumes and thinking anyone back home would find them wholly indecent, she put a sun dress over the costume and a pair of sandals on her feet and picked up a towel. She arrived back in the console room and the Doctor just whistled. Rose blushed, she was not used to this kind of attention.

Then she saw him in his knee-length swimming shorts and a purple t-shirt. Looking at his legs, she giggled. She had never seen men dress like that. So hand in hand they stepped out to find he had moved the Tardis onto a remote part of the beach and almost at the water's edge. Rose had never seen the sea before and she shrieked with delight and threw her arms around him again. He was getting to like this and he didn't feel guilty.

Laying down their towels, Rose didn't bother about ceremony, she took her sun dress off and ran into the most amazing shade of blue sea and began splashing. She had never learned to swim so she didn't go too deep, just below her knees and turned to see where he had got to but he was close behind and began splashing her. Rose giggled and they began a water fight, the Doctor laughing and trying to pull her down, Rose struggling to keep upright as they both fell into the sea.

By mutual agreement, he took her hand and they went back to where they had laid their towels on the sand, the sun shining down as Rose picked hers up to dry herself the Doctor disappeared back inside the Tardis and came back out with two more towels and some sun cream.

"Here, you need this on or you'll burn."

Rose looked at the bottle. He showed her how to open it and put some cream onto her hand. "Run that on your arms and legs then if you lay down, I'll put some on your back for you."

Rose began to rub her arms. Handing him back the bottle as they took it in turns, the Doctor finished first and went to lay on his towel, his back to Rose. "Come on Rose, you do my back first."

Rose stood in front of him, blocking the sun. He passed her a pair of sunglasses he brought out with him and she looked at them, working out that he wanted her to put them on as he did the same.

"Doctor, it's not decent to do that, rub cream on your back."

"Rose, it's ok, honestly, the time I came from, men and woman do it all the time but if it makes you feel uncomfortable, it's ok."

Rose knelt down at the side of him and looked at the bottle. "Ok, I'll try, just tell me if I'm doing it right."

He knew he shouldn't be enjoying this so much. Soon she had finished, all too quickly for his liking, especially on his shoulders and he told her to lie down and proceeded to rub the cream on her back, avoiding the straps and not going any further than he had to but again, he was enjoying it too much. As they lay down, he stayed on his side, leaning on his arm as he talked and told her about the time he came from, not yet revealing he wasn't actually from the planet, thinking it would all be too much for her to take in.

He decided taking her back to London in what now must be 2009 was not a very good idea, they could run into people that knew Rose, Jack, Sarah-Jane and Martha plus Rose may have met Wilf so he couldn't take the chance but he wanted to show her what life would be like in the future so he chose somewhere quiet. Well not quite – his landing was a bit off as usual and they landed in New York. So after showing her around, rather slowly as she took her time, wanting to try a hotdog and some fries and them taking a subway train, Rose being terrified and clinging onto him as they entered the platform to take the train to see the Statue of Liberty and then take the ferry to the island.

The Doctor remembered landing there with Martha in 1930 and he sincerely hoped no Daleks remained. After that, they took the ferry and train back and he took her to the Empire State Building, relieved it was completed this time and Rose stepped out onto the observation deck and looked down, grabbing hold of him. The Doctor smiled as she held onto his arm and then she slipped her hand into his, which was still in his pocket.

Rose gave his hand a squeeze and smiled, still staring at the fact they were high above the ground, 1000's of feet above New York. They made their way back to the Tardis after Rose wanted to try some pizza and a coke, saying she loved it. She had only eaten plain food and he thought she was taking this rather well. They had held hands almost the entire time and he could easily forget this was an entirely new Rose, who had never seen nebulas and supernovas and he knew one day he would have to tell her where he came from, he couldn't keep it from her forever.

Once back in the Tardis, he put them into the time vortex to decide their next destination and Rose went to her room, coming back with some nail polish. "Doctor, what's this?"

He smiled, Rose used to sit on the jumpseat and paint her fingers and her toes. He opened the bottle for her, indicating for her to take the brush out and steered it to her fingers. She smiled and went to sit down, learning fast that it needed time to dry.

"How about watching a movie Rose? We have pictures where people move and talk."

She thought that was an excellent idea so they went to the media room via the kitchen where the Tardis had provided fresh popcorn and they settled down to watch The Chronicles of Narnia as opposed to Wolverine, something that was nearer her own time although it was that or Sherlock Holmes.

Rose was clearly sleepy from their tour of New York and started leaning her head on his arm but insisted in watching the end of the film.

"Come on sleepy, before I have to carry you back to your room," he said before she fell asleep totally and nudging her.

Rose smiled. She felt happier than she had done in her life.

"I wouldn't mind if you did carry me back, save me walking," she half joked, only ever dreaming of a man sweeping her off her feet.

Her new-found freedom was infectious, she wanted to make the most of it. The Doctor smiled at her.

"Maybe another time Rose, now come on or I'll make you watch another film."

Once back at her room, Rose kissed his cheek again. "That was great, can we do that every night?"

"Maybe or maybe we can watch some TV programmes from my time but there's something you need to know, about me."

"Such as?" She searched his face, looking at his frown lines.

"It will wait, get some sleep."

"Doctor, I'm really not that tired, it was just the film. Tell me about the places you've been to, please?"

"Ok, just for a while. I'll go make some hot chocolate, with whipped cream and marshmallows, you go get comfy."

He went to the kitchen and was back at her room a few minutes later but stood outside. This is what 'They' used to do after an adventure or Rose was upset over something and here he was, back in their old routine, was it fair on this Rose to be doing the same things? He tried to tell himself it wasn't but maybe this Rose would get all hysterical about him being an alien with two hearts from another planet and want to go back home or be left somewhere but she couldn't cope with modern day life, she wasn't meant to be here.

Somewhere along the line, someone would recognise her, an old friend of the other Rose, a friend they had met on their travels, it wouldn't matter who and he would have to explain to them before they could say anything, it was going to be quite a challenge but it would sure be worth it. Balancing the cups in one hand, he turned the handle of her room door to find Rose sitting up in bed against the pillows with a very revealing pink nightdress and a big smile on her face. It seemed the Tardis was happy to have Rose back and was determined they wouldn't dance around each other this time.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor stayed all night with Rose, they kissed, cuddled and all but had sex but he knew he couldn't go that far yet, she wouldn't know anything about that and it wouldn't be fair, he knew she had never been touched by a man but she had let him take the lead and he had encouraged her to tell him when she wanted him to stop, she had even laughed and flipped him over, pulling his t-shirt off and kissing the hairs on his chest, giggling as they had tickled her.

She was so innocent and he had already fallen in love with her.

"Doctor, this is really nice but how come you don't already have someone?"

"I did, a long time ago but all that doesn't matter now, I'm here, with you and right now that's all I want. I told you, people leave and when I get lonely, I remember them, then someone like you, someone so brilliant comes along and I'm no longer lonely."

"So you act this way with all the females who come on board then?" she smiled, teasing him.

He laughed and leaned down to kiss her again. "No, only you because you, Rose Tyler are beautiful and I want to show you how I feel about you, if you'll let me one day."

Rose yawned. "Promise you'll stay so we can do some more kissing when I wake up."

"I'm not going anywhere Rose, I promise."

Rose curled up and had finally fallen asleep in his arms and he was only too happy to grant her wish. He would ask her to go to the infirmary and give her the choice of taking something when the time was right but he wouldn't encourage her, she had her all life ahead of her and he knew he only had a short time in his present body, she wouldn't understand when he changed, not like the other Rose, she had seen him change once, well almost twice except he had healed himself instead of changing the last time.

He had told the other Rose he couldn't spend the rest of his life with her and had not explained it fully that he was not turning her away, he was trying to tell her that if she wanted, he could spend the life he had now with her but it was too late and they had never got that close, much to his regret. Now he had another Rose in his arms, just as beautiful as ever and happy to be with him. Was it so wrong to want her? He reckoned that if he could have a few years with her, he would be happy, even if she left him if he changed, it would have been better to be with her than without her because he had made that mistake once, he wasn't going to do it again. He remembered that old human saying.

There were to be many more nights and mornings in Rose's bedroom that soon moved across the hallway to his much bigger room after he had the stars displayed on his ceiling for her the first time and she wanted to be there all the time. It seemed the ship liked this arrangement and had moved all her things into his room and given him a bigger wardrobe and some more t-shirts and jeans that he changed into while they watched TV or a film, laying on the sofa and kissing during the adverts or the film credits, the Doctor usually losing the said t-shirt and Rose had taken to wearing button down shirts with low-cut bras under them, sometimes his hands would wander where they shouldn't and he would get his hand smacked.

He had never attempted to even go that far even after two weeks, well he thought it was two weeks, he tried to keep a calendar so he could go back to earth without too much of a gap, a habit he had picked up from his past companions so they could see their families on a regular basis and kept him up with the latest events and if there had been any attempted alien invasions. He just hoped there hadn't been any while he'd been showing this Rose the universe, going mostly to deserted parts of planets but getting into the odd scrape or two and Rose had thought it was extremely funny and they had laughed for ages when they got back, ending up in bed together.

He knew though that Martha had left her phone and would let him know if anything did happen, he just hoped it wouldn't be anytime soon. That was about to change. He decided a quick trip to London, to show Rose how much it had changed from her time would be ok, providing they stayed away from the Powell Estate and so long as he didn't land them in Cardiff, presuming Jack was even still there so he landed them just off Oxford Street and checked for alien activity.

Rose hadn't really met anyone from the present day, they hadn't talked to anyone in particular in New York so now was the perfect time. Rose came out, dressed in black trousers and a pale blue zipped top with a white t-shirt underneath, she hardly ever wore dresses and he had teased her she was a tomboy, to which her answer was finding the skimpiest dress in the wardrobe after asking the ship to provide her with something and she had gone into the library to look for him and they had snogged for over an hour on the large over-stuffed armchair he was sat on.

That was the first time she allowed him to touch her bare legs with his hand, apart from with his own legs in bed and they had both smiled, both pleased with the sudden progression they had made. After that, she only wore her knickers and a short vest top in bed but usually lost the top somewhere along the way just after he had lost his t-shirt but they still hadn't crossed the line, mainly because she had never been with another man and not likely to do so in the foreseeable future as to want to go with anyone else since now, they could hardly keep their hands off each other.

It was her choice as to who she wanted her first time to be with and he still hadn't asked her if she wanted to protect herself and didn't want to frighten her away by suggesting he take the initiative, she had been shielded from that kind of talk and she hadn't asked him any questions about it.

So after he landed them in London, he got a signal as to some unusual activity and they set off in search of it which led them in the evening to board a London bus and be transported through a wormhole, ending up on the other side on a desert planet where shiny metal creatures were trying to make the wormhole larger so they could devour the earth like they had done with that planet and all the others they had stripped bare but the Doctor managed to get everyone safely back, with only one casualty that he hadn't been able to stop and after Rose had a run-in with one of the passengers, Lady Christina, telling her in no uncertain terms the Doctor was hers.

They had only been on the planet a few hours but to Rose, in the baking hot sun, it had seemed like days. It hadn't helped when the Doctor had left Rose on the bus to go with Christina, who had decided she was going to take charge to find out what the black clouds in the distance were and when he came back and they were about to set off a second time she insisted on going with them. The rest of the passengers seemed amused that the two young women were vying for his attention.

They had set off and were captured by giant fly creatures but he talked them into believing they were friendly and they had what was needed to get the bus off the planet. The only problem was, the object was at the bottom of a shaft with no access but the Doctor went to see if he could find a panel, leaving Rose and Christina to fight amongst themselves. Christina, being an accomplished cat burglar, had all the equipment to make it down to the bottom of the shaft and hushed Rose as she prepared herself.

"I know we got off to a wrong start Rose, I didn't know you two were together but he is kind of cute, you're very lucky."

"I know, he rescued me from a family I was working for and took me with him. I've been travelling with him since but I've never really told him how much it meant to me, I should do."

Christina smiled and prepared herself to dive down the shaft as the Doctor asked them again if anything was moving, it suddenly dawning on him what was going on and he dived back just in time to stop her hitting a force field.

"Rose, you should have stopped her."

"Well there's no other way down there, she had the equipment, I'd say she made a good choice."

He looked at her then told Christina he needed the whole object, a set of clamps. They got back to the bus but the creatures were getting nearer and he hurriedly fixed the clamps to the bus wheels and cursed when they wouldn't work and persuaded Christina to part with the treasure she had stolen from the museum to fuse the device with the bus steering wheel. They had been in contact with UNIT forces back on earth and made their way back, telling the UNIT captain to be ready to repel any of the creatures that made it through and the scientist he had been talking with to be ready to close the wormhole.

Christina was standing next to the Doctor when they hit the last of the creatures and were about to land and was about to kiss him when Rose tapped her on the shoulder and reminded her to keep her hands off him. Instead, Rose grabbed him and kissed him, to the sound of everyone clapping. Christina was about to get arrested for stealing but Rose persuaded the Doctor to set her free of the handcuffs and she slipped away but only after she had asked if she could go with him and Rose. Rose looked at him, hoping she wouldn't have to share him but he took any doubt from her mind.

"Sorry Christina, I only travel with Rose," he replied after the Tardis had been recovered and he had showed her the inside.

"But you have plenty of room, I'll be arrested if you don't take me."

"I'm sorry."

The police took her away but before they could drive off, she escaped from the police car and headed back to the bus and flew off. They were about to leave when the Doctor was saying goodbye to one of the passengers, Carmen when she told him, "Doctor, your song is ending soon."

"What does that mean?" he asked, somewhat puzzled as to how she could say that after the Ood had told him the same thing, on another planet and in the future.

Rose took his hand. "What is she saying Doctor? What song?"

Carmen looked at them, hand in hand. "Just this Doctor, he will knock four times." Then she turned away.

The Doctor led Rose back into the Tardis and he put them into the time vortex, he wondered what that message meant, it was just as puzzling as the one about his song ending, what was the connection? Rose was anxious for him to re-affirm their new relationship by getting him to put the Tardis in 'park' mode and dragged him to their bedroom, making him wait while she went into the bathroom after the rather naughty ship decided to place yet another set of nightwear for her to dazzle him with.

The Doctor got undressed to just his boxers and laid in bed, waiting for her, staring at the star-lit ceiling that gave off a soft glow. When she came out of the bathroom, he couldn't have been more lost for words. She crossed over to the bed, kneeling on the edge and he held his hand out to her, pulling her towards him.

"You look even more beautiful Rose. Did you think I was tempted by Christina back there?" he smiled.

"No, of course not, what have I got to be worried about?"

"Oh, it's just when she was standing at the side of me, you tapped her on the shoulder and practically shoved her out of the door," he laughed, pulling her down so she was laid on her back, looking up at him.

She giggled. "Well maybe a little but you wouldn't have let her kiss you, would you?"

He was a fraction away from her lips. "Never Rose, no-one is as beautiful as you are. You always amaze me."

Their lips met and she pulled him down, running her fingers through his hair. "I've never felt like this before, I mean I've never been with a man and goodness knows how long my mistress was going to keep me shut away when male visitors called, I got one half day a week off and I was so tired, I stayed in my room, I hardly went out unless it was with one of the daughters and then it was only to a store to carry things for them. I was having these feelings that there was more to life so one afternoon, I went out, saying I was going for a walk and I never went back."

The Doctor felt sorry for her, it was what he supposed was what they did with their servants so they wouldn't run off and get married and leave them. They wanted their money's worth for buying them from their parents.

"Rose, tell me what happened to your parents," he said, running his fingers over her and pulling the straps on her delicate nightdress down. He much preferred it when she didn't dress up but she liked to do so just for him occasionally and he was happy to let her.

"I lost them both, I heard my mother had died, five years ago, my father died when I was a baby."

The sounded familiar to him. "Rose, what were their names? Maybe I can look them up for you, show you photographs of them. Would you like that?"

Rose smiled. "I had just one photo of us together when I was a baby and one of my mother and me, back in the house I worked for but I had to leave them behind."

"Then allow me to get them back for you," he said, kissing his way across her exposed skin.

Rose looked at him, her arms around his neck. "You could do that?"

He smiled. "Rose, I have a time machine, I can do anything and it's time to tell you who I really am."

He took one of her hands and placed it on where a human had their heart. "Can you feel that Rose?"

Rose thought it was going rather fast but considering they were in such close proximity, it was hardly surprising, her own was also racing. "Yes Doctor."

Then he took her other hand and placed it on his other heart and she pulled back. "But that isn't possible, you can't have two unless? You're one of those aliens you told me about but you're exactly the same as us."

She didn't try to get away, she just looked at him as he held her, her hands still on his chest.

"Are you ok with that? I don't have two heads or anything, I'm not dangerous. What do you think?"

"You're still you though? I mean to say, the same man I've been with for how long now? I've lost track of time."

The Doctor laughed. "Oh my sweet Rose, there's no such thing as time in the Tardis. I could take you back to where you came from and a few minutes would have passed. You could go back and take that job with Jackson Lake or go back to that house, anything you want."

"Why would I want to go back there to be a servant or a nursemaid when I can go with you? You're stuck with me."

"I don't mind being stuck with you Rose, if that's what you want and after you get some sleep, I'll go back and get those pictures for you, tell the family I'm the police and tell them we need the photos to look for you. Don't worry about the details."

"I'm not sleepy yet Doctor, kiss me some more?"

He leaned down to kiss her exposed skin, pulling the garment lower. She smiled at him as he discovered she wasn't wearing anything under it but he dare not do anything, he would let her get over her shock of discovering who he was but the matter was taken out of his hands as she pushed him over and went to lay on him, the garment riding up as she moved. Rose let out a low moan as now there was only his boxer shorts between them.

"Doctor, why am I getting these feelings? I get these sensations when we touch, when you run your hands over me and when we only have our underwear on, I would never had dared wear just my knickers in bed, you should see what I used to have to wear and all these things the ship is providing for me, when I ask her for something nice to wear for you that will please you."

"Oh, so it's the Tardis I have to thank for you looking so gorgeous then is it?" he smiled, taking a nip at her neck.

He pulled the straps as far as they would go and pulled them down over her arms, kissing her shoulders as she lay on him, then lowered the nightdress and began kissing her breasts. Rose giggled and involuntarily moved on him, letting out a gasp.

"Oh why does that feel so good? Mmm, oh I might just wear this or a similar nightdress every night then, it's so much better without the knickers on."

He smiled at her as she moved, doing his best not to frighten her as he tried to keep himself under control, although he had a great deal more restraint than a human male. She was very smart considering the time she came from and she would work it out but he wasn't going to make her mind up for her. He wasn't going to have to wait much longer.


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor was quite perturbed by the prophecy given to him by Carmen. Had it just been her he may have even laughed it off but that combined with the Ood saying the same thing and about the knocking, he thought he would keep out of circulation so as to prolong the inevitable, after all, it could only mean one thing. His song might be ending but a new one would start, one with another face which meant he was going to regenerate, which he already knew, he just didn't want to do it just yet. He had just found his Rose again, he was not about to lose her if he changed and he hadn't even told her that bit yet, it was hard enough she had accepted he had two hearts and had to convince her he had no other peculiarities.

He had promised her he would go retrieve the photos she had left behind so making sure she stayed safely in the Tardis, he got the address of where she had been working and knocked on the door about a week after she said she had left. It had turned out she had only been with Jackson Lake for a few days and the Cybermen would be a good cover for her not to come back.

Before he set off to see the family, he asked Rose to tell him about her parents and was astonished.

"My mother was called Jacqueline, my father was called Peter, he was a salesman but he died when I was a baby. It was a carriage that was out of control. My mother struggled to bring me up in a one room apartment in a run-down part of town, doing women's hair for them to earn money, hardly enough to feed the two of us. When I was old enough, she sold me to the Coopers, she said I would have a better life with them but I didn't and I didn't realise it wasn't all about serving people, that there was a lot more I could do."

He knew when he retrieved the photos who her parents would look like. He kissed her goodbye and made his way to meet the Coopers. A large woman opened the door.

"Yes Sir, what can I do for you?"

"Ah, I'm Chief Inspector Smith from the Metropolitan Police." He wasn't sure if Scotland Yard existed yet. "May I see your master?"

"The master isn't in Sir but my mistress is. Please come in."

She showed him into what he supposed was the parlour and looked around at various photographs. A woman came in.

"Are you here about that no good servant Rose Tyler? I complained she ran away almost a week ago, aren't there laws to prevent servants from running away? I looked after her, I fed and clothed her and she repays me by leaving without a word. Have you any idea how much money I invested in her? Now I'll have to get another serving girl."

The Doctor hardly felt sorry for her. "Mrs Cooper, do you have any photographs of Rose Tyler? You do know the recent events that took place in the city means a lot of people died or have gone missing."

The woman got up and went to a drawer. "I found these in her room." She handed him two photographs, just as Rose had said and he had been right.

"May I take these?"

"By all means, they are of no use to me. If you find her, I want her back as soon as possible."

The Doctor thanked her and left. Rose was well rid of that family if the woman was anything to go by and there was no way he was ever taking her back. Jackson Lake would have treated her more fairly, that he was certain of but she wasn't going back there either. She belonged to no-one but he hoped she would stay with him.

When he got back to the Tardis and gave her the photos, she almost cried. She flung her arms around him and kissed him.

"I don't know how to thank you. These are all I have to remember them by and if I'd lost these?" She kissed him again. "Doctor, while we're here, can we go walk down by the river?"

"You'll have to get changed first. Go up to the main wardrobe and find something nice to wear. Just tell the ship you want something from the Victorian era."

Rose came back over half an hour later, suitably dressed for a stroll down by the river, complete with lace white gloves as ladies were not allowed to be seen in public with a gentleman (let alone an alien one) unless they were married. Rose was sure he would stand out since he wore the same brown suit but no-one seemed to notice him.

As they walked, Rose remarked how good it felt to be finally free. "I owe all this to you, you know that yet you don't ask for anything in return."

"What would be the point in that Rose? If I asked for anything in return, you wouldn't be free, would you?"

He smiled and put her arm into his and they made their way back to the Tardis. Rose went to get changed.

"I don't know how I wore all these clothes," she said as she walked off.

The Doctor followed her. "I'll rustle up something to eat while you get changed them we'll go watch a film. OK Rose?"

She found him in the galley, food already on the table. After eating, Rose dragged him to the media room and they settled down to watch a film. Rose was wearing one of his shirts, with nothing underneath and a pair of jeans, not bothering to fasten the button. They lay on the sofa and missed the last fifteen minutes of the film as his fingers unfastened the rest of the buttons, not that there were that many fastened to begin with. She soon pulled him down onto her as he parted the shirt and started kissing her breasts.

"I see you're starting to save time Rose," he remarked, a big smirk on his face as he bit her.

Rose shrieked with delight and pulled his t-shirt off, going for his neck and biting him.

"Ow! Right, you're going to get payback."

He reached for the TV remote and turned it off and gathered her up in his arms.

Rose had her arms around his neck, carrying his t-shirt, her own shirt gaping open as he stared at her. Once in their room, he put her on the bed and pulled the shirt off her arms. She scrambled back to the pillows, pulling him with her and tugging off his jeans. Once relieved of them, he tugged hers off to find she was only wearing the skimpiest of knickers that barely covered her and he threw her jeans onto the chair along with his own.

He knelt down, his legs either side of hers and watched her breathing heavily.

"Rose, you're so beautiful." He leaned down to place a kiss on both her breasts. Then he moved back. He knew that neither of them would be able to resist for much longer.

He moved over onto his back, Rose followed and knelt over him. He traced his fingers over her breasts then down to her navel. She grabbed his hand and held it, looking at him.

"Doctor, this is really nice and I do like the things we do but there's more, isn't there? When a man and a woman feel like this about each other. Will you show me? Please?"

"Oh Rose, I'm not sure it should be me that shows you. You haven't known anyone else, it's not fair to limit your choices. You could have your choice of men out there."

"But I don't want anyone else, I want you."

She leaned down and kissed across his chest. He pulled her closer for a kiss, his hands going onto her lower back until the rested on the waistband. Rose sat up again, feeling where his hands were. Her heart was racing and she knew why he had two, she could do with an extra one herself. She sat up slightly, leaving a gap and if he wanted, he could pull them down but he didn't.

"Doctor, please, it's not like I haven't laid on you before."

"That was different, I didn't have to take them off then," he smiled. He had never touched her with his hands, they had just laid together and his hands had never gone below her hips. It was driving him insane.

"Well, now you do, are you up for the challenge?"

"Well you just laid on me before, pulling them off would mean touching you. Do you want that Rose?"

"Yes, please, touch me."

She raised herself off him to let him pull them down and wriggled out of them, he pulled them off her legs. Then she lay down on him and whispered, "Doctor," as he turned her over onto her back.

He kissed her and then made his way down, kissing her breasts, then her tummy and got lower, looking down at her then kissed her intimate area lightly. She mumbled something and since she didn't protest, he began kissing her delicate area and looked up to see her face. She was smiling. Pleased she was offering no resistance, rather the opposite, he ran his fingers over where he had kissed and felt her shivering, then she reached her arms up to his neck, holding onto him.

"Please Doctor, show me what to do."

He sat up, looking at her. She was beautiful and was his if he wanted her. He did want her but not to put her off having sex with anyone else for life because if they did do this, they would be bonded, according to the laws of his planet. Although his planet had long since gone, he honoured the laws as did other planets in the same star system and beyond, including The Shadow Proclamation. Marriages were only arranged on his home planet to produce offspring and many couples still preferred the old fashion ways of looming but some couples did partake in doing it the 'modern' way and he had been one of them, forever one to be the first to break with tradition.

"Rose, there's something you need to know. You already know I'm not human and I know you've accepted that but where I come from, if we join together, there's no going back. Remember I said about the Tardis reading your mind? Well we will be linked the same way, we would form a mental bond that cannot be broken until…." He stopped.

He knew it was until he regenerated or until the other party regenerated if that was the case. How could he tell her?

"Until one of us dies Doctor? They have that on earth too you know, until death us to part, it's nothing I don't know about and I have nothing to hide, no secrets. I want to share my mind with you. What will happen, if I go first?"

"Don't say that Rose. I'll feel empty, in my mind and in my hearts."

"Then what do you think I will feel? It can't be anything less, except I only have one heart to break, you have two. You will have twice the pain. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Yes but I don't know how to."

"Then try."

"Rose, I can't explain it in a way you'll understand. I want to but I'm afraid if I do, you'll no longer want to be with me."

"Don't tell me what I'll want and not want Doctor, I can make my own mind up. Now tell me." She ran her finger down his torso, stopping at the waistband of his shorts. "I'm a big girl Doctor, I'm not a child and I know I want this with you, no matter what."

He took her hand as she rested it on his boxers waistband, then leaned down to kiss the back of her hand.

"I don't die Rose, I regenerate. Well I will die, eventually when I can't regenerate any more. My people are called Timelords, we have the ability to cheat death. We change, our bodies, our personalities if we are injured or dying, we just change instead of dying. In some ways, it's like dying, we become a different person and what was us fades away. We retain all memories from our past regenerations, this will be my tenth body, meaning I've regenerated nine times already and we have thirteen although my people are all gone now, I'm the only one left and maybe that's changed, I never really thought about it."

That was true, he hadn't considered that with the Timelords gone, they surely took some safeguards to preserve themselves so they wouldn't die out altogether, he may have more time left than he thought but there was only one sure way of ever finding out, when he was on his last one, which he would hide himself away in the Tardis and never come out.

"Surely you're not the only one left Doctor, someone else must have survived. How did they all die?"

"They all died in a war between my people and a race called the Daleks, the war was the last great time war and everyone was wiped out, including a lot of other races and innocent ones that got caught up in it that had played no part in it."

"Then how did you survive? Did you not take part in it?"

He smiled. She was so innocent. "Because I had to end it. I survived as punishment for what I did, for ending it at the cost of everything. There was no other way. My people kept dying and they would regenerate and go back and fight again, it would never have ended. The Daleks just kept making more of themselves, they were machines. They turned people into them, much like the Cybermen. Imagine Rose, having to go out thirteen times and fight the same war? It had to end and I had the means of stopping it. I wiped everyone out indiscriminately. I couldn't even save my own people because the Daleks had over-run the planet, they were everywhere, destroying the planet from the ground as well as attacking above. Everyone had to die, at my hands and I've have to live with that ever since. I regenerated, twice and it still doesn't go away, it never will."

Rose took his hands, a tear in her eye. "You have to try to forget it, I can help you. I don't care if you change, you're the most wonderful, kindest man I've met, although I haven't really met that many I suppose but if you change again, it might be that you no longer like me."

"Oh Rose, that will never be the case, I promise no matter how many times I change, I will never leave you behind, not unless you want to leave. You may not like me when I do change, I could be younger and bumble around or I could be older and grumpier and go around wearing something that looks like it comes from your time. I'm not grumpy am I? Do I bumble around?"

Rose smiled. "No, you're not in the least bit grumpy and you don't 'bumble' around. You're kind, considerate, funny, cute and I love it when you wear those t-shirts and those jeans, it shows off your…" She stopped. "Oh, is it rude to say bottom?" she giggled, reaching round and patting his bum.

He smiled. "No, not any more although some people use different words to describe it nowadays. You think I cute? Like in fluffy animal cute?"

"Yeah, sort of. Do you think I'm cute?"

"Oh Rose, you're more than cute, you're adorable. You're smart, funny and have curves in all the right places," he smiled, running his finger over her hips.

He was now leaning on one elbow, regarding her form underneath him. One word, one touch and she was his for the taking but not without her permission. Rose touched the waistband of his boxers.

"You know when I lay on you, I get all kinds of feelings in my body, nice feelings. When I move on you, I feel like I want to scream out loud and I never want it to end. I fall asleep when all I want to do is get closer to you. Doctor, I want to lay on you, without those, what do you call them, boxers getting in the way. Please?"

"If I let you, you have to promise me Rose, promise if you feel scared or uncomfortable with it, you tell me to stop and I'll move. Ok?"

Rose nodded and he took her hand, placing it just under the back of his boxers. She moved his hand and touched his bare skin, flinching at first but then exploring further down, a smile on her face as she got lower. He moved his boxers down at the back and she took her other hand and placed it alongside the other. He was now raised slightly on both his arms, not quite touching her.

"Rose, let's start with me lying on you then if you don't like it, you can easily push me off you. OK?"

Rose nodded again. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself soon and he didn't want to frighten her. He slowly pulled his boxers down at the front, not all the way off and lowered himself gently onto her so as not to crush her. Rose gasped at his touch as skin touched skin as though a lightening bolt had shot through her. He raised himself back up but she pulled him back down, her hands now on his waist. She gasped again.

"Doctor, please, show me what to do?"

"Rose, if I do, there's something we need to do first and you have to be sure of this. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere."

Rose smiled. "Where would I go like this Doctor? Would I run through the corridors with no clothes on?"

He smiled. Jack Harkness would have done, without any compulsion.


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor came back from the infirmary with a bottle and a plastic needle and Rose hid beneath the covers.

"It's ok Rose, I'm not going to hurt you. It's just a precaution. Timelords rarely got together with human females and I don't want to pass anything to you and also it prevents you from, well, you know, an unwanted pregnancy. That's if even Timelords and humans can actually have a child together but you've got your whole life ahead of you, if we accidentally get carried away and you get pregnant, I'd never forgive myself if that's not you want."

Rose came out from under the covers. She looked at him, standing there with just his boxer shorts on and she did trust him after all, why would he be trying to hurt her?

"I'm sorry, it just looked a bit scary. My mistress made us all have these injections, the needle was enormous, I nearly fainted. I don't know what it was for, probably to stop us getting some disease or other. Will it hurt?"

"No, it won't hurt much, you'll just feel a sharp pinprick then it will be all over. It will protect you for three months then if you want, you can have another one, if you still want to stay with me that is."

"Why wouldn't I want to stay with you? Are you going somewhere?" she smiled, holding her arm out.

He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled a sterile swab from a packet under the bottle he was carrying. He wiped her arm and drew the liquid into the needle and pressed it quickly into her arm, wiping it again and taking a small plaster from another packet.

"There, all done. Did you feel anything?" He put the things on the nightstand and got back into bed.

"No. Sorry, I don't know why I made all that fuss, you were just doing what was best for me."

"I'm just trying to protect you Rose, I've never really been with a human woman before, not in that way. I don't know what will happen and I'm not trying to encourage you to be with me, if you decide that's what you want, well we don't have to worry about the consequences. Just be aware though, that if you decide you don't want to be with me and you find another man, it may not work, it's formulated for humans and Timelords, not just humans. If you want to be with another man you'll need to wait until it wears off and if you want to leave me, I'll understand. I know about human relationships."

Rose had put her knickers back on while he had been away, much to his annoyance. "So Rose, where were we?" he asked, grabbing the waistband. "Do I have to go through all this again?"

Rose laughed. "Serves you right for not thinking about it before we started all this. If it helps, I'll start first."

She reached for the back of his boxers and yanked them down as he leaned to one side on his elbow so she could pull them down, then changed sides until they were around his knees.

"Rose, we have plenty of time, let's just take this slowly shall we? Let's start with you keeping your knickers on, so you can get used to me. Ok?"

Rose nodded and gasped as he lay on her. He could tell she was bursting and she was beginning to feel wet. He wondered if she realised what was happening to her. He shifted onto his side slightly, moving his hand under her garment and moving it to one side, touching her delicate area gently that sent a shiver over her as she lay smiling.

She simply said "Doctor" as she put her arm around his waist and made him move his hand out of the way as they touched properly, sending another shiver through her.

Her other hand was now on his bum, pinching it and pulling at it, digging her fingers into it as he let out a "Mmm," softly in her ear. He kissed her neck then leaned down to kiss her breasts.

Rose was calling, "Mmm, more, please" to him as he moved to lay on her, forcing the material back into place breaking skin contact. Rose let him know her displeasure at the sudden change as she pushed him slightly, saying, "No, I want to feel you."

He smiled and pulled the garment down enough for contact again as she gasped. He moved slightly on her, his hips against hers but never attempting to enter her. He would never assume that was what she wanted, she would have to make it perfectly clear she wanted him to.

"Doctor, I want to come and lie on you, please?"

He turned over onto his back and Rose wriggled out of her knickers, leaving the Doctor with his shorts still around his knees, restricting his movements for the time being but he didn't mind, he thought she would have been terrified when they had touched. After they had kissed and Rose had her first orgasm, something that seemed to thrill her that she wanted him to do it to her again and she had shrieked loudly several times and had taken her some time to recover from them, she fell asleep exhausted on him and he just held her, smiling at her.

The next day, well what seemed like the next day, who knew, the Doctor promised to take her to Mars, the red planet. Rose was excited as he showed her on the monitor all the red hills and was told she would have to put a space suit on in order to set foot on the planet surface. He helped her get into the suit, putting the helmet into place and they set off across the rocky terrain. They were surprised when they came to an outcrop and in the distance saw a large inter-connected dome and a rocket on a launch pad.

"Ooh look!" the Doctor exclaimed excitedly. "Civilisation, lets get closer."

Rose was game, that was what they had come here for after all. They were about to move when something stuck into his back. He was told to put his hands up and Rose followed what he was doing as a robotic voice informed them they were under arrest. They were herded across the surface to a doorway, the Doctor was kept being prodded by what he thought was some type of laser blaster and he wasn't ready to regenerate any time soon now he and Rose had just about consummated their relationship except for a few minor details.

They were led into the command centre and interrogated by the leader, the Doctor suddenly realising where they were.

"This is Bowie Base One," he stated. He knew what was about to happen, everyone on earth in the future knew what had happened on the 21st November 2059, everyone was killed and no-one knew why. He knew he and Rose had to leave.

"We have to go, now. I'm so sorry, really I am but we can't be here. It's been lovely to meet you all."

He went and shook hands with everyone but then realised someone was missing and wanted to meet them. Leaving Rose to stay in the command centre, the Doctor went off with who he now knew was Captain Adelaide Brooke only to discover that one of the crew has been infected by a virus that mutates and had infected another crew member. Panic then broke out and the captain ordered the base to be evacuated and gave Rose and the Doctor their spacesuits back and they make their way to the airlock.

"Doctor, you have to help them, we can't just leave them," Rose pleaded.

"We're not leaving them Rose, they have a rocket to escape in."

He knew they wouldn't make it, it was something again that he'd have to live with, knowing he could have got them off the planet safely but the destruction was a fixed point and even he dare not interfere. He knew what meddling with timelines did, he'd done it far too often with dire consequences.

As they started walking back to the Tardis though, that was about to change. The rocket exploded, sending he and Rose flying to the ground, debris narrowly missing them but parts on fire all around them. He rushed as quickly as possible to Rose who was still on the ground. He checked her and turned her around. Her eyes were still closed but he could tell she was still breathing. She started coughing and opened her eyes.

He took her in his arms. "Rose, I thought I'd lost you."

He helped her up, checking her helmet wasn't damaged and they hurried back to the dome, finding the integrity had been compromised and picking up a can of sealant, tossed it to Mia, who started to seal the breach. They were all running around when he realised what the captain was doing, setting the base to self-destruct and there was no way he was going to sacrifice himself and Rose when the Tardis was so near.

"Captain, I can get you off here, stop it, stop the countdown."

She looked at him. He had to do something, he couldn't let any of them die, especially Rose so he discovered the robot had been stowed away and took the controls. He had already altered it to go faster so putting the Tardis key in its hand, he set it on a course for his ship, opened the door and released the handbrake. Rose was staring at him, trusting him as she smiled at her, the Tardis landing in front of them. With seconds to go, he pushed everyone into the ship and it took off at the last possible second, leaving the complex below to explode, taking whatever had infected the crew with it.

Once safe above the planet, Captain Brooke scowled at him. Rose was taking off her spacesuit and so was the Doctor, watched by the other two survivors, Mia and Yuri, standing by the door hand in hand. He set the co-ordinates and landed them on earth on the same day as they had left the base. After Mia went off, followed by a panicked Yuri, Adelaide confronted Rose and the Doctor. Adelaide knew it was wrong, a manic look came over the Doctor that Rose hadn't seen before.

"I'm the only one left of the Timelords and do you know what that means?"

Rose and Adelaide both looked at him.

"It means the laws of time are mine to obey. I've saved people before but never anyone as important as you Adelaide. I've saved little people but this time, well. Timelord Victorious, that's who I am."

Adelaide was furious. "What do you mean by little people? What about those who died on Mars, they were not little people. I don't care who you are Doctor, the Timelord Victorious is wrong."

She stormed off towards her house, the Doctor unlocking it with his sonic screwdriver. He took Rose's hand but she dropped his.

"What was all that about? I thought I knew you Doctor but you can't just choose who lives and who dies, who to save and who not to save. It's just wrong."

"Rose I didn't choose, don't you see? I chose to save those who could be saved, it was too late for the others but someone once said to me that I needed to save someone, not the whole town or city or colony, just save someone and that was what I did, I saved someone."

Just then, there was a flash and a loud noise came from Adelaide's house and they knew what had happened. History had been changed and Captain Brooke had died on earth, not on Mars and two others had survived to tell the tale, it was no longer a mystery what happened.

Rose looked at him, tears in her eyes. She took his hands. "Yes Doctor, you did save someone but it wasn't meant to be and she knew it. She would have died back on Mars, we all would have done but you did save others. I'm sorry."

She walked back towards the Tardis, leaving him standing there when he suddenly heard singing. He turned around to see Ood Sigma standing in the distance. He had already heard the mutants knocking three times on one of the doors back on the base and he'd not allowed them to knock a fourth time, part of the prophecy but now the Ood were singing to him. Rose had closed the door to on the Tardis and he was alone.

"Is this it? Is my song coming to an end?" he called out but the Ood vanished in front of him.

He wasn't having it. He had Rose back, he loved her and although she had not said the words, last night they had cemented their relationship and showed their love for each other in no uncertain terms as they had laid together and had stopped just short of the actual act, only because he didn't want to hurt her if she wasn't ready for him. That, they had to look forward to.

He went back into the Tardis, Rose was sitting on the jumpseat.

"Do you want to leave Rose? I can take you back if you want to go and work for Jackson Lake."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No but you've seen Rose, you've actually seen what I have to do. Yes, sometimes I have to choose who to save and who to leave to die and it's not easy and I'm not proud of it. Sometimes I save the wrong person, often because it's too late to save more than one and the person I save is the wrong choice but how do I make that choice Rose?"

Rose got up and crossed to him, putting her arms around his waist. "I'm not saying what you did was wrong and yes, I know it can't be easy and I can't say I'll ever get used to it but it's what you do, I accept that. Like you said, you can't save everyone and it's not your fault if it's the wrong one, you don't know that at the time."

He leaned down and kissed her. "I love you Rose but I understand if you want to leave."

"Doctor, I love you too and I'm staying. You need someone to remind you that you might be the Timelord Victorious but you also have your limits."

He smiled. He put them back into the time vortex, never mentioning his visit from Ood Sigma because he was definitely in no hurry to follow, it would mean the end of him in this form and he didn't want it to end. He had Rose, he had the Tardis and Rose loved him, she had just said so. The Ood obviously wanted him to pay them a visit for some reason, though he didn't know why if they only wanted to warn him his time was almost up, why reach out to him?

He had so many places he wanted to take Rose to and it would be so much better now they were together, well almost fully together and he was going to take his time over that, nature would take its due course and she would be fully his and when she was, he would bond with her and make their relationship official. Well in some cultures they already were anyway and if she wanted to do it according to earthly traditions, he wasn't going to deny her.

He would have to take her back to present day earth, check out what was going on, show her life in the 21st century and hope he could avoid his past companions like before although they hadn't really stayed that long. They needed a base, he had got used to hanging around on earth and he missed taking his companions back home and he couldn't take Rose back where she had come from. He thought about going back to London but decided Cardiff may be a better place to hang out for a while so he set the co-ordinates for earth, around 2009 and hoped no-one would question as to why he had Rose Tyler with him, looking dewy-eyed at him.


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor landed the Tardis in Cardiff Bay, hoping Jack had long since left town. Instead of the usual plaza, there were massive works going on, a great big hole where the fountain had been and the Tardis was teetering on the edge. He quickly re-positioned it behind the Millennium Centre and they went outside. He had to find out what had been going on. He suspected it had something to do with Jack and Torchwood. He was right, something had invaded earth and had tried to steal children. What was it that aliens wanted to steal children?

They wandered around and were just sitting in a café when a woman came up to them, a very pregnant woman with dark hair and a big smile.

"Doctor?" she asked, standing beside a man. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, we've met, haven't we?"

"Well yes, of course we have, when the earth was stolen although I only saw you on the monitor. I'm Gwen Cooper though it's now Gwen Williams plus one." She pointed to her stomach.

"How long do you have to go now?" Rose asked.

"Not long. Doctor, where have you been? Did you not hear about the 465 wanting to take all the children? Ianto died and Jack's disappeared. I think I know why you stayed away though."

"Oh, well you know how it is, I get sort of distracted and I don't realise what the time is here. I don't have much reason to keep coming back all the time."

He was going to say like he used to, when he was bringing his companions home for visits at regular intervals, well except when the other Rose had gone missing for a year for which her mother never really forgave him for.

"What about you, don't you have anyone to visit? Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"It's Rose. No, I haven't really got anyone."

The Doctor was thankful they hadn't actually been introduced since they had been busy trying to tow the earth back into its orbit.

"Anyway, it's been nice to see you both again."

Gwen and her husband went off to another table. Rose looked at him. "She didn't mean nice to meet me again did she? I've not met her before have I?"

"Well no, I think she just meant me. The time she was talking about, there was a crowd of us, the earth had been stolen and transported across space and we were towing it back with the Tardis. She may have thought you were Donna."

He had told her about Donna and Martha although he had omitted that Martha had been in love with him, a sentiment he had never returned and subsequently destroyed half her life but she had got over it, got engaged then dumped him to go off with non other than Mickey the idiot. The world was very strange.

After wandering around Cardiff for a while, taking in the castle that had almost been turned into a nuclear plant had a certain Mayor had her way, they went back to the Tardis. He had been sad to hear about the children trying to be taken but there were times he couldn't interfere and that would have been one of them. He was also sad that Jack had disappeared but it was understandable under the circumstances.

Taking Rose off to other galaxies, he tried to forget his impending doom and ignore the fact that sooner or later, he would have to go face the Ood and find out exactly what their cryptic message had meant. He took Rose on many adventures, they named a galaxy, saved a galaxy and had a run-in with Queen Elizabeth 1st, Rose nearly loosing her head when the said Queen got jealous of her and she wanted to marry the Doctor after a misunderstanding but he had managed to secure Rose's release on the promise he would dump Rose and go back and marry her. That had explained to him how the Queen had ordered his own beheading when he had encountered her in Shakespeare's time.

He thought he had best not tell Rose he'd had to snog the much younger version of the Queen in order to convince her to let Rose go free and when he'd met her later, he was glad he had never gone back. The niggling feeling of curiosity finally got the better of him and a short time after they had left earth the last time, he took Rose to the planet of the Ood.

He was greeted by Ood Sigma as he stepped out onto the snowy planet, followed by Rose. They had been playing silly and he was wearing a straw hat and a flowery garland after their last trip to Hawaii and she hadn't wanted him to take them off. He had been bitterly disappointed when she refused to go around in just a grass skirt with nothing underneath and since now they had bonded and they had sex on a more than regular basis, they had been in nearly every room in the Tardis including the kitchen, the shower, the media room (on the floor after they fell off the couch and laughed) and the library. They went in search of the swimming pool but the Tardis had hidden it again.

Rose hadn't wanted to bother with an earth ceremony so they had just gone somewhere quiet and pledged themselves to each other and he had produced a lovely silver and gold band. He would have gone to the Shadow Proclamation but it seemed they were still mad about him running off.

"So, Ood Sigma, I was summoned," he stated as the Ood greeted him.

"You should not have delayed Doctor."

"I wasn't in a hurry to get here, you said my song was ending. Rose and I had things to do, places to go. We got married, sort of."

"You have already delayed too long Doctor, things are already happening. You will come with me. The woman must stay here."

"No chance, she comes with me." He took Rose's hand.

"Very well Doctor."

After locking the Tardis with the remote, something he'd come up with recently which had amused Rose, they followed behind Ood Sigma.

"Wow, look at this planet Doctor, it's amazing."

"Yeah, it's not bad, I've been here before, with Donna. Tell me Ood Sigma, how long has it taken you to build all this?" he asked, looking around and putting his arm around Rose.

"100 years."

The Doctor stopped dead, nearly tripping Rose up.

"Then we have a problem."

They were led into a cavern where other Ood were sat in a circle. The elder told the Doctor to sit and join hands but Rose remained behind them standing with Ood Sigma.

"Every night Doctor, every night we have bad dreams."

The Doctor was shown an image and he immediately broke contact. "That man is dead, I burned his body."

"And yet you did not see," the elder told him.

They joined hands again and it showed a hand picking up the Master's ring.

"No! That means a part of him is still alive. He's called The Master. I have to go. Can Rose stay here, with you?"

Rose wasn't having it. "Don't be stupid, I'm not leaving you. Who is this Master?"

"He's a Timelord like me but a while back he tried to take over the earth but I stopped him and reversed everything he had done."

He was shown an image of a woman in a prison cell. "Who is the woman?" the elder asked.

"The Master's wife, a human woman called Lucy, he corrupted her. I can show you." He linked hands with them again.

"There is more. A man, a frightened man."

"Wilfred, Donna's grandfather. Is he alright? Come on Rose, we have to go but you're staying in the Tardis when we get back."

He grabbed her hand and started running as Rose was trying breathlessly to tell him to think again. As he bashed the Tardis control, sparks were flying everywhere, Rose was clinging hold of the jumpseat trying to keep from falling off.

"What's so important about the Master? What did he do?"

"Oh you know, he just enslaved the human race and wiped half of them out using a race of aliens that he rescued from the end of the universe. Nothing special."

"But you stopped him, yeah?"

"Yes but I had to undo everything he had done and some people remembered even though to the majority, nothing ever happened, I wiped out a whole year but people who were in the same place as him remembered, his wife for one plus he must have had some followers and I think they plan on bringing him back. Everyone's in danger again. I should have seen this coming and I should have taken notice of the Ood earlier, especially after the other warning."

They landed, rather roughly considering he was overworking the poor ship. He grabbed his coat and rushed out to find they had landed in front of a pile of rubble that had once been a women's prison. Rose wandered out after him.

"Ok, what happened here then? Looks like we might be too late."

"No, he's here. Timelords always know each other. I just have to find him first. Rose, stay here, he's dangerous."

"Think again Doctor, I'm your wife, remember?"

"I know Rose but the last time I met him, he tried to destroy everything and if he gets hold of you, I'd never forgive myself."

"Look Doctor, I can take care of myself. Now which way?"

"The docks."

They made their way to the docklands, the not so popular part of them and suddenly he heard a loud banging – four times. Then he caught sight of a blonde-haired man on top of a mound of rubbish and discarded parts.

"Stay here Rose, I mean it."

He ran off but lost sight of the Master, instead, running into a group of senior citizens, headed by Wilf. He pushed past Wilf but it was too late, there was no sign of the Master. Rose had caught up to them.

"Hello darling. Thought you'd disappeared?"

Rose looked at Wilf and then the Doctor. He knew this was bound to happen.

"What are you doing here? Did you tell all these people about me?" The Doctor asked Wilf.

"Well, I just told them you were a doctor, that's all."

While he was talking, an older woman was giving Rose the evil eye and making her way towards her husband.

"Here, let's get a photo," the woman said, grabbing hold of him. "I'm Minnie, Minnie the menace." She handed her camera to another man.

Rose pulled the Doctor away from the woman's grasp and snarled, "Yeah, well I'm Rose, his wife."

"Wife?" Wilfred questioned, looking at him.

"Ah, long story anyway, why are you all here?"

They all gathered around for a photo, much to Rose's dismay.

"Come on you lot, back on the coach. You too Doctor and I'll explain everything and to you Rose."

The Doctor hung back with Wilf while the others got on, just out of earshot of Rose.

"Have you met Rose before?"

"Well yeah, when the planets disappeared, she found us and we saw you on the computer screen but we didn't have one of those webcam thingies. She was trying to find you and she couldn't talk to you."

"Right, course she was but there's something you need to know Wilf, she doesn't remember that, something happened and I'd rather you didn't say you know her or what happened that time. Can I trust you?"

Wilfred gave a salute. "You can rely on me Sir."

He allowed Wilfred on the mini-coach then took his seat next to Rose, who was still looking daggers at Minnie as if to say if she touched her husband again she'd know about it. They drove for a while and Wilf got the driver to set them down in a shopping precinct and the Doctor and Rose got out with him and went into a nearby café.

That was when Wilf said he and everyone else had been having bad dreams. The Doctor hadn't wanted to tell Rose that time was running out for him and he could change when he met up with the Master but he had to go and confront him but something else the Ood had said, about something returning was still bothering him. They finally met up with The Master back in the wasteland. Rose rushed to his side then the Master attacked him.

"Well what do we have here then? Do I detect a mate? I thought she had disappeared?" He spied Rose.

"What does he mean Doctor?"

"Come on, no wait a minute, you're not her."

The Doctor was recovering. "Leave her alone."

The Master just laughed. Just then, a bright light shone from above them and the sound of helicopter blades could be heard. The Doctor held onto Rose, telling her to stay behind him but men came down on ropes and knocked the Master out, grabbing him. The Doctor shouted after them but bullets were now being fired and he was frightened Rose would get hit. He pushed her to the ground just as one hit him.

Rose tried to get from underneath him as the noise and lights abated and she bent down to him.

"Doctor, please wake up." He was out cold.


	7. Chapter 7

He had explained to her that when he was injured, as long as it wasn't potentially fatal, he could heal himself so all she could do was wait. She checked for any injuries but there was no sign of any blood so she figured he would come around in his own time.

An hour or so later, he began to come round. "Ow, my head. Did they take him?"

"They must have done, I was under you, remember? In trying to save me, you got hit by something."

"It was only a tranquilliser, I'm ok. We need help Rose, we have to find out how all this is connected and I can only think it's Wilf."

"He seemed to know me and so did the Master. What did he mean I'm not her?"

"Rose, they were mistaken, that's all. Ok, I used to travel with someone who looked a bit like you but we were never involved, I swear we weren't. I lost her, she went to another universe and she came back when the earth was stolen. Then another version of me was created and they went back there, together."

"What do you mean another version of you?"

"Rose, we have to go, we have to find out what he's up to, he could have arranged that. We have to go see Wilf and there's something else you should know, Donna is Wilf's grand-daughter but she's lost her memories of me, she doesn't know me and she can't remember me, if she does, her mind will burn. I had to take her memories away to save her so we'd best keep out of her way. I'll tell you everything when we get back to the Tardis when this is all over."

They went to Wilf's house, Donna's mother catching him when her granddad went to fetch a book. Rose was waiting outside the Tardis when Wilf followed them into the Tardis as a very angry Sylvia Noble was calling after them. Wilf took a look around the Tardis.

"It's bigger on the inside. I thought it would be cleaner."

"Oi!" both the Doctor and Rose objected.

"I should take you right back home. It seems our best bet is to go to where this Naismith lives, he could have taken the Master."

Once they arrived and parked the Tardis in the stables, the Doctor put the ship out of sync so the Master wouldn't detect it and try to steal it again, he had learned his lesson the last time.

After getting into the basement and finding two aliens masquerading as humans, they discovered what the Master was up to – trying to convert the entire earth's population into versions of himself. Rose and the Doctor rushed upstairs just in time to see he had broken the codes and had set a device in motion and people were beginning to turn. He got someone out of the control room and put Rose inside, telling her to stay there so she wouldn't be affected then Wilf came into the room, claiming he could see the Master's face in his head. The Doctor got Rose to open the other door and let Wilf in and the Doctor stepped out.

Everyone was changing and soon, only the Master, Wilf, Rose and the Doctor were unaffected plus the two aliens who seemed to have disappeared. The Master ordered the Doctor to be held prisoner, strapping him to a high chair he himself had been bound to earlier. Then he ordered Wilf and Rose out and tied them up. He began taunting the Doctor when Wilf's phone started ringing.

"Who is it? Everyone is me and I'm not calling myself," the Master claimed, holding up the phone after throwing Wilf's gun on the floor, Rose seeing if she could reach it as she was working on the ropes that bound her.

"It's no-one, just one of those ring-back numbers," Wilf offered as the caller's name came on screen.

"Who's Donna?" He let the strap that was covering the Doctor's mouth loose.

"That's better, hello." He winked at Rose who had just about loosened the rope.

Just then, another soldier came in and he realised it was one of the aliens, since it was too tall for another Master. The said odd soldier out hit the Master with the butt of his rifle.

"I've never hit anyone before."

The female alien came in and helped finish untying Rose and then helped Wilf but the Doctor was going to take a bit longer.

"There's too many straps, just wheel him out," the female alien said.

"No! Don't do that!" the Doctor protested but it was too late. "No, not that way, I have a ship nearby."

It was too late as they wheeled him towards the basement and everyone went downstairs, the Doctor rather bumpily. The soldiers were already in pursuit and were just about to capture them when they transported onto the alien ship. They quickly released the Doctor who then proceeded to blow out the power and left them with just auxiliary power.

"Ssh!" he warned everyone after he pointed out that the Master had every nuclear missile on the planet aimed at them and ready to fire.

After a few minutes, the two aliens went off to see what damage had been done and left Rose and the Doctor alone. Wilf was too busy to notice as he was looking down on the earth. The Doctor was sitting with a bunch of wires when Rose took his hand.

"You ok Doctor?"

"Yeah, just fixing the heating but we can't hide up here forever, we have to do something."

Rose leaned forward and kissed him. "I know, you'll do what you have to do."

They kissed again just as Wilf came back in. "Sorry, don't let me interrupt."

They broke apart and saw something soaring across space. Just then, a voice broke the silence. It was the Master, informing the Doctor that an object that had just fallen to earth – an impossible diamond, a white point star, only found on one planet – Gallifrey. The Doctor had an idea. Wilf had already offered him his gun but he had refused it but this time he took it. Rose stared at him. They went back into the control room and told them to set a course back to earth.

"We can't, you wrecked the place, remember?"

The Doctor took two levers and the power came back on. "Fix the heating?"

"Yes but now he can see us," Rose pointed out.

He turned to Wilf and the other male. "This is a salvage ship yes? Then it's got laser cutters."

"So, what do we need those for?"

"Because of the missiles."

They fought their way back to the Naismith mansion but before they came into land, the Doctor opened the hatch.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked him, the gun already in his hand.

"Going to stop him. Wilf, look after her, Rose, look after Wilf and I love you, I always have and I always will but it's time to face my destiny."

With that he fell towards the glass roof of the mansion.

"We're not leaving him so land this thing now," Rose demanded, her arms crossed.

"I'd do as she says if I were you, she's his wife," Wilf remarked.

"Fine but we drop you off then we're gone."

The craft landed just as a red planet appeared in the sky.

"What's that?" Wilf asked, holding on to Rose.

"The Doctor said something was coming and it looks like it's here."

"But it's going to collide with us."

"No Wilf, he'll stop it."

"Come on Sweetheart, let's go help him then."

They hurried as fast as they could back inside to find the Doctor had been kept busy. The Timelords had returned, bringing their planet and everything else with it. The Chancellor, Rassilon, had turned everyone back to human again and the Doctor was facing him, gun pointed. Rose just stood there. The place was falling apart when Rose saw someone trying to get out of the glass control booth and without hesitation went to let them out so Wilf, forever the gentleman went to let Rose out as the Master turned on the Timelords and they began to disappear, taking him with them.

The Doctor was laid on the floor, Rose rushed over to him. "Are you ok? You look a bit worse for wear. Why didn't you wait for us to land?"

"Rose, I told you to leave. Where's Wilf?"

Rose looked around and saw a red light on inside the control booth. Just then, Wilf waved and began knocking – four times. The Doctor got up, leaning on Rose.

"You survived then?" Do you think you can let me out, only this things making a funny noise," Wilf asked.

Rose steadied him to his feet. "The Master left the device running."

Rose let go and crossed to the booths. The Doctor called out. "NO! If you go in there the device will overload and all the radiation will pour into it. You won't survive."

"And neither will you, I'm not going to lose you."

"Leave me Doctor, Rose needs you. I'm not important."

"Oh alright then, of course you're not important. It was always you Wilf, it was always you that was going to make me change."

"Doctor, just use the sonic to get him out."

"No, it's too late, the sonic could set it off."

He let go of Rose and walked over but Rose stopped him. "Just Try. There's two of us, you point the sonic, I'll get him out, yeah?"

Rose went to the door, the Doctor got his sonic out. "Ready?"

The door clicked, opened and Rose pulled Wilf out, shutting the door just in time. The system went dead.

"Come on, I have to get you patched up and you need a new suit."

As they were walking out, security were all coming back and they easily slipped away back to the stables and went into the Tardis. Rose took the Doctor to the infirmary and cleaned him up and he was all better in no time. They took Wilf back home and they promised he would see them again, at Donna's wedding. Rose insisted they parked somewhere while she took care of him so going to their bedroom, Rose undressed him down to his boxers and then it was his turn, kissing her as he took off her bra.

"Doctor, it was Christmas back there, don't you think we should celebrate it?"

"Oh yes Rose," he replied as he got into bed and positioned himself directly over her and pulled down her remaining article of clothing. "What would you like for Christmas Rose?"

"I have what I want but I do have one question. Just how much alike to this other companion do I actually look because I think there's something you're not telling me."

"Rose, you do look like someone I used to travel with but I told you. She's in another universe with another version of me, my twin, or my clone, whatever you want to call him. Does it matter that you look like her? We were never together, not like we are. We never bonded or got married."

"Why not?"

He didn't want to do this now or ever but he knew one day she would ask. "Because I was scared of losing her. I was scared that because I don't age she would grow old and I'd lose her but I realised Rose, I realised it's not the time you have but what you do with it. I realised that I could be happy, if only for a short time and remember you, just as you are now. I was selfish, thinking only what would happen to me, I have to think about you as well."

"Doctor, it's ok. I chose to be with you, for however long we have and I know."

"You know what?"

"The reactions of people. I don't just look like her, people thought I was her. You loved her, didn't you? Then you lost her and you found me. I'm just a replacement for the woman you lost, aren't I?"

"No, you're not." She had him and now she would leave, he knew it. "Yes, I loved her, yes I lost her but I never wanted to be with you because you're a replacement. Don't ever think that. I love you Rose, you're my wife, I've never married again since I lost my family when my planet was destroyed, I never thought I could."

She pulled him closer, he had moved to prop himself up on his elbow. "It's ok, I understand. You gave me a life I thought was never even possible. You took me away from being a servant and showed me the universe and if I look like her, well, that's how it is. Just say you love me Doctor."

"Oh Rose, I do love you, for all kinds of reasons. Don't ever think it's because you look like someone else. I sent her to another universe with another me and I know it sounds complicated but when I left them there, I felt devastated, I thought I would never be happy again but then I met you and you taught me I could. Don't you see Rose? This was meant to be."

Rose pulled him down for a kiss. "I love you too, you took me away. You could have left me and I know you never meant to hurt me or use me as a substitute. There is one thing though."

"Oh? What's that then?"

"Well all that travelling around we did, we lost track of time."

"What do you mean? Rose, how can we lose track of time in a time machine hmm?"

Rose smiled at him. "It's more than three months."

"What?"

"We've been together for more than three months."

"Have we? Well, time flies," he replied, tracing his finger on her tummy.

"Yeah, some Timelord you are," Rose laughed, running her fingers across his chest. "Three months Doctor, don't you get it? I thought you knew everything?"

"Well I do, mostly. What are you getting at?"

"Guess." He looked down at her. "Sometimes I think what Donna said to you was right when you said she used to call you Dumbo. I think I might be pregnant."

His face changed and he sat up. Rose continued. "It's ok isn't it? I mean I only think I am, we could check."

"Rose, this is brilliant and yes we will check. I've been so busy taking you places and avoiding making the prophecy happen, I forgot to give you another shot and you, Rose Tyler, you never reminded me."

"Maybe I didn't want to remind you."

"Well we'll do a test in the morning, right now, all I want is you because this is brilliant, fantastic, molto bene."

Rose smiled. "You are going to make a great dad you know. I didn't mean what I said, about me being a substitute. I know you wouldn't do that and you didn't have to marry me."

"But I wanted to. The first time in over 900 years I have what I want – a family."

He lay down gently on her as she rid him of his boxer shorts and somewhere, in the other universe, the other Rose Tyler and the other Doctor were travelling the universe in their newly-grown Tardis with their newly born daughter, Cassandra.

Both Doctors, both in the Tardis with a Rose Tyler each – just as it should be.

The End!


End file.
